In response to NFL players’ continued protests during the national anthem, in hopes of raising awareness about perceived racial injustice, the organization is pledging to invest $89 million in social justice causes.

As for how the league is funding the seven-year program, San Fransisco 49ers safety Eric Reid, a frequent protester, said the NFL is doing so by pulling funds away from military charities and breast cancer awareness causes.

“In the discussion that we had, Malcolm [Jenkins] conveyed to us — based on discussions that he had with the NFL — that the money would come from funds that are already allocated to breast cancer awareness and Salute to Service,” he told Slate. “So it would really be no skin off the owners’ backs: They would just move the money from those programs to this one.”

Reid decided to leave the Players Coalition, a group spearheaded by Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins and former wide receiver Anquan Boldin, citing the reported deal. The plan to siphon funds from other causes and shift them toward social justice initiatives was a collaborative decision between the NFL and the Players Coalition.

“We didn’t agree with that,” Reid said of the decision, “because we weren’t trying to cut other worthy programs.”

All of this came about as a result of the protests unemployed former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sparked in 2016. Many players across the NFL started participating in the controversial demonstration in September, after President Donald Trump criticized the practice.

The protest has resulted in declining ratings, plummeting sales and empty seats at stadiums across the nation, all of which makes sense, given most Americans oppose players’ decision to take a knee during “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

3 Comments

Mark B. Miller

“Social justice” causes… How nebulous can one get? And just what does funding social justice causes entail? Anti-discrimination laws have been on the books for years making it a crime to discriminate on the basis of race, faith, ethnicity, etc. Legislating what people feel in their hearts – if that’s what this is about – never works. Cancer doesn’t discriminate.